InstaTan
by xigarashi
Summary: All Kyo wants is a suntan. That's why he rubs on the INSTA-TAN. He doesn't expect to get covered in dark, spiky hair. Hair that just won't stop growing.....
1. Chapter 1

**1**

Why were there so many stray dogs in my town? And why did they always choose me to chase? Did they wait quietly in the woods, watching people go by? Then did they whisper to each other, "See that blond kid? That's Kyo Suzuki- let's go get him!"

I ran as fast as I could. But it's so hard to run when you're carrying a guitar case. It kept banging against my leg. And I kept slipping in the snow.

The dogs were catching up. They were howling and barking, trying to scare me to death. Well, it's working, guys! I thought. I'm scared. I'm pretty scared! Dogs are supposed to sense when you're afraid of them. But I'm not usually afraid of dogs. In fact, I really like dogs. I'm only afraid of dogs when there's a pack of them, running furiously at me, drooling hungrily, eager to tear me to tiny shreds. Like now.

Scrambling over the snow, I nearly toppled into a drift up to my knees. I glanced back. The dogs were gaining on me. It isn't fair! I thought bitterly. They have four legs, and I only have two!

The big black dog with the evil black eyes was leading the pack, as usual. He had his lips pulled back in an angry snarl. He was close enough so that I could see his sharp, pointy teeth. "Go home! Go home! Bad dogs! Go home!" Why was I yelling at them? They didn't even have homes! "Go home! Go home!"

My boots slipped in the snow, and the weight of my guitar case nearly pulled me over. Somehow I staggered forward, caught my balance, and kept moving. My heart was pounding like crazy. And I felt as if I were burning up, even though it was about 5 degrees. I squinted against the bright glare of the snow. I struggled to run faster, but my leg muscles were starting to cramp. I don't stand a chance! I realized. "Ow!" The heavy guitar case bounced against my side. I glanced back. The dogs were leaping excitedly, making wide criss-crosses across the yards, howling and yelling, as they scrambled after me. Moving closer. And closer. "Go home! Bad dogs! Bad! Go home!" Why me?

I'm a nice guy. Really. Ask anybody. They'll tell you- Kyo Suzuki is the nicest twelve-year-old kid, here in china town! So why did they always chase me? The last time, I dived into a parked car and shut the door just as they pounced. But today, the dogs were too close. And the cars along the street were all snow-covered. By the time I got a car door open, the dogs would be having me for dessert!

I was only half a block from Rei's house. I could see it on the corner across the street. It was my only chance. If I could get to Rei's house, I could- "NOOOOOOOOO!"

I slipped on a small rock, hidden under the snow. The guitar case flew from my hand and hit the snow with a soft _thud_. I was down. Face down in the snow. "They've got me this time," I moaned. "They've got me."


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Everything went white. I struggled to my knees, frantically brushing snow off my face with both hands. The dogs barked hungrily. "Scat! Get away! Get going!"Another voice. A familiar voice. "Get going, dogs! Get away!" The barking grew softer. I brushed the wet snow from my eyes. "Rei!" I cried happily. "How did you get here?" She swung a heavy snow shovel in the dogs' direction. "Scat! Go away! Go!" The growls turned to low whispers. The dogs backed up, started to retreat. The huge black dog with the black eyes lowered his head and loped slowly away. The others followed. "Rei-they're listening to you!" I cried thankfully. I climbed slowly to my feet and brushed the snow off the front of my blue gown parka. "Of course," She replied, grinning. "I'm tough, Kyo. I'm really tough."

Rei Tikoto doesn't exactly look tough. She's twelve like me, but she looks younger. She's short and thin and kind of cute. She has chin-length blonde hair with a fringe that goes straight across her forehead. The strange thing about Rei is her eyes. One is blue and one is green. No one can really believe she has two different colours-until they see them.

I brushed most of the snow off my front of my coat and the knees of my jeans. Rei handed me my guitar case. "Hope it's waterproof," she muttered.

I raised my eyes to the street. The dogs were barking wildly again, chasing a squirrel through several front gardens. "I saw you from my window," Rei said as we started towards her house. "Why do they always chase after you?" I shrugged. "I was just asking myself the same question," I told her. Our boots made crunching noises in the snow. Rei led the way. I stepped in her bootprints.

We waited for a car to move past, its tyres sliding on the slick road. Then we crossed the street and made our way up her driveway. "How come you're late?" Rei asked. "I had to help my dad shovel the drive," I replied. Some snow had caught inside my hood and was trickling down the back of my neck. I shivered. I couldn't wait to get inside the house.

The others were all hanging out in Rei's living room. I waved hi to Sasuke, Zero and Tora. Sasuke was down on his knees, fiddling with his guitar amp. It made a loud squeal, and everybody jumped. Sasuke is tall and skinny and a bit goofy-looking, with a crooked smile and a mop of curly, black hair. Zero is twelve like the rest of us, but he looks eight. I don't think i've ever seen him without his black-and-silver Raiders cap on. Tora is a little chubby. She has curly, carrot coloured hair and wears glasses with blue plastic frames.

I tugged off my wet coat and hung it on a peg in the front hall. The house felt steamy and warm. I straightened my sweatshirt and joined the others. Sasuke glanced up from his amp and laughed. "Hey, look-Kyo's hair is messed up. Somebody take a picture!" Everybody laughed. They're always teasing me about my hair. Can i help it if i have really good hair? It's dark blond and wavy, and i wear it long. "Hairy Kyo!" Rei declared. The other three laughed and then picked up the chant. "Hairy Kyo! Hairy Kyo! Hairy Kyo!" I made an angry face and swept my hand back through my hair, pushing it off my forehead. I could feel myself blushing. I really don't like being teased. It always makes me angry, and i always blush. I guess that's why Rei and my other friends tease me so much. They tease me about my hair, and about my big ears, and about everything else they can think of. And i always get angry. And i always blush. Which makes them tease me even more. "Hairy Kyo! Hairy Kyo! Hairy Kyo!" Great friends, huh? Well actually, they are great friends. We have a lot of fun together. The five of us have a band. This week, it's called The Geeks. Last Week, we called ourselves The Spirit. We change the name a lot.

Rei has a gold coin that she wears on a chain around her neck. Her grandfather gave the coin to her. He told her it's real pirate gold. So Rei wants to call our band Pirate Gold. But I don't think that's cool enough. And Sasuke, Zero and Tora agree. At least our name-The Geeks-is a lot cooler than Yasu and the Shouters. That's the band who's challenging us in the big battle of the bands contest at school. We still can't believe that Yasu Ito named the band after himself! He's only the drummer. His stuck-up sister, Ayaka, is the singer. "Why didn't you call it Ayaka and the Shouters?" I asked him one day after school. "Because Ayaka doesn't rhyme with anything," he replied. "Huh? What does Yasu rhyme with?" I asked him. "Zasu!" he said. Then he laughed and messed up my hair. What a creep. No one liked Yasu or his sister. The Geeks can't wait to blow the Shouters off the stage.

"If only one of us played bass," Zero moaned as we turned up. "Or saxophone or trumpet or something," Tora added, pulling out a couple of pink guitar picks from her open case. "I think we sound great," Sasuke said, still down on the floor, fiddling with the cord to his amp. "Three guitars is a great sound. Especially when we put on the fuzztone and crank them all the way up." Tora, Sasuke and I all play guitar. Rei is the singer. And Zero plays a keyboard. His keyboard has a drum synthesizer with ten different rhythms on it. So we also have drums. Sort of.

As soon as Sasuke got his amp working, we tried ro play a Rolling Stones song. Zero couldn't find the right drum rhythm on his synthesizer. So we played without it. As soon as we finished, I shouted, "Let's start again!" The others all groaned. "Kyo, we sounded great!" Rei insisted. "We don't need to play it again." "The rhythm was way off," I said. "You're way off!" Sasuke exclaimed, making a face at me. "Kyo is a perfectionist," Tora said. "Did you forget that, Sasuke?" "How could i forget?" Sasuke groaned. "He never lets us finish one song!" I could feel myself blushing again. "I just want to get it right," I told them. Okay. Okay. Maybe I am a perfectionist. Is that a bad thing? "The battle of the bands is in two weeks," I said. "We don't want to get onstage and embarrass ourselves, do we?" I just hate being embarrassed. I hate it more than anything in the world. More than steamed broccoli!

We started playing again. Zero hit the saxophone button on his keyboard, and it sounded as if we had a saxophone. Sasuke took the first solo, and I took the second. I messed up one chord. I wanted to start again. But I knew they'd murder me if i stopped. So I kept on playing. Rei's voice cracked on a high note. But she has such a sweet, tiny voice, it didn't sound too bad. We played without taking a break for nearly two hours. It sounded pretty good. Whenever Zero found the right drum rhythm, it sounded really good.

After we put our instruments back in their cases, Rei suggested we go outside and mess around in the snow. The afternoon sun was still high in a shimmery blue sky. The thick blanket of snow sparkled in the golden sunlight. We chased each other around the snow-covered evergreen shrubs in Rei's front garden. Sasuke crushed a big, wet snowball over Zero's Raiders cap. That started a snowball fight that lasted until we were all gasping for breath and laughing too hard to throw anymore snow. "Lets build a snowman," Rei suggested. "Lets make it look like Kyo," Tora added. Her blue-framed glasses were completely steamed up. "Whoever heard of a snowman with perfect blond hair?" Rei replied. "Give me a break," I muttered. They started to roll big balls of snow for the snowman's body. Zero shoved Sasuke over one of the big snowballs and tried to roll him up in the ball. But Sasuke was too heavy. The whole thing crumbled to powder under him.

While they worked on the snowman, I wandered down to the street. Something caught my eye at the kerb next door. A pile of rubbish standing next to a metal bin. I glanced up at the neighbours house. I could see that it was being remodelled. The pile of rubbish at the kerb was waiting to be carted away. I leaned over the side o the bin and began shuffling through the stuff. I love old junk. I can't help myself. I just love pawing through piles of old stuff.

Leaning into the bin, I shoved aside a stack of wall tiles and a balled-up shower curtain. Beneath a small, round shag rug, I found a white enamal medicine chest. "Wow! This is cool!" I murmured to myself. I pulled it up with both hands, moved away from the bin, and opened the chest. To my surprise, I found bottles and plastic tubes inside. I started to examine them, moving them around with my hand, when an orange bottle caught my eye. "Hey, guys!" I shouted up to my friends. "Look what I've found!"

* * *

**Sorry this chapter was so long, i just had to fit a lot of information in :) **

**Hmm, wonder what this orange bottle could be, dun dun DUNNNN!**


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

I carried the orange bottle back up to Rei's garden. "Hey, guys-look!" I called, waving the bottle. No one looked up. Sasuke and Zero were struggling to lift one big snowball and set it on the other one to form the snowman's body. Rei was shouting encouragement. Tora was wiping snow off her glasses with one of her gloves. "Hey, Kyo-what's that?" Tora finally asked, putting her glasses back on. The others turned and saw the bottle in my hand. I read the label to them: "INSTA-TAN. Rub on a dark suntan in minutes." "Cool!" Sasuke declared. "Let's try it." "Where did you find it?" Rei demanded. Her cheeks were bright red from the cold. There were white flecks of snow in her hair. I pointed to the bin. "Your neighbours threw it out. The bottle is full," I announced. "Let's try it!" Sasuke repeated, grinning his crooked grin. "Yeah. Let's all go into school on Monday with dark suntans!" Tora urged. "Can you see the look on Miss Abe's face? We'll tell her we all went to Florida!" "No! The Bahamas!" Rei declared. "We'll tell Yasu Ito that The Geeks went to the Bahamas to practise!" Everyone laughed. "Do you think the stuff works?" Zero asked, adjusting his cap and staring at the bottle. "It has to," Rei said. "They couldn't sell it if it didn't work." She grabbed the bottle from my hand. "It's nearly full. We can all get great tans. Come on. Let's do it. It'll be so cool!"

We all followed Rei back into the house, our boots crunching over the snow, our breath steaming up above our heads. I pulled off my coat and tossed it on to the pile with the others. As i made my way into the living room, I began to have a second thought. What if the stuff dosen't work? I asked myself. What if it turns us bright yellow or green instead of tan? I'd be so totally embarrassed if I had to show up at school with bright green skin. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. Even if it took months, I'd hide in my house-in my closet-till the stuff wore off.

The others didn't seem to be worried. We jammed into the downstairs bathroom. Rei still had the bottle of INSTA-TAN. She twisted off the cap and poured a big glob of it into her hand. It was a creamy white liquid. "Mmmmm. Smells nice," Rei reported, raising her hand to her face. "Very sweet-smelling."

She began rubbing it on her neck, then her cheeks, then her forehead. Tilting the bottle, she poured another big puddle into her palm. Then she rubbed the liquid over the backs of both hands. Sasuke took the INSTA-TAN bottle next. He splashed a big glob of it into his hand. Then he started rubbing it all over his face. "Feels cool and creamy," Tora reported when her turn came. Zero went next. He practically emptied the bottle as he rubbed the stuff on his face and neck. Finally it was my turn. I took the bottle and started to tilt it into my palm. But something made me stop. I hesitated. I could see that the others were all watching me, waiting for me to splash the liquid all over my skin, too. But, instead, I turned the bottle over and read the tiny print on the label. And what i read made me gasp out loud.

* * *

**OOOOOOOOO! cliffhanger, ay? :)**


End file.
